A faster way to turn off your iPhone’s flashlight

A faster way to turn off your iPhone’s flashlight

Matt Elliott/CNET

I use my iPhone’s flashlight nearly every evening when walking my dog. It helps me locate — how do I put this? — anything she may leave behind during our lap around the block. I swipe up to open the Control Center and tap the flashlight button to turn the light on and off. There is, however, a slightly faster way to turn the light off that involves only a quick swipe and no tapping.

And that slightly faster way is to swipe up on the camera button that’s in the lower-right corner of the lock screen. You don’t need to swipe all the way up and actually open the Camera app. All you need to do is swipe up about halfway and the flashlight turns off, at which point you can let go and return to the lock screen.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Granted, this method is only slightly faster and more efficient than simply using the flashlight button in the Control Center. In iOS 7, all you needed to do was tap on the camera button to turn off the flashlight, but a quick swipe up in iOS 8 still isn’t too great a chore and a beat faster than using the flashlight button in the Control Center.